Rajasthan High Court - Jodhpur
Princi Jain vs State Of Rajasthan on 4 March, 2021
Bench: Sangeet Lodha, Rameshwar Vyas
(1 of 7) [SAW-96/2020]
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT
JODHPUR
D.B. Spl. Appl. Writ No. 96/2020
Princi Jain D/o Shri Chetan Prakash Jain, Aged About 17 Years,
Through Natural Guardian Bhanwar Lal Jain S/o Shri Mohan Lal,
Aged About 65 Years, Resident Of Post Pirana, Tehsil Dungla,
District Chittorgarh, Rajasthan.
----Appellant
Versus
1. State Of Rajasthan, Through Secretary, Education
Department, Government Of Rajasthan, Secretariat,
Jaipur, Rajasthan.
2. District Education Officer, Head Quarter, Secondary,
Chittorgarh, Rajasthan.
3. Board Of Secondary Education Rajasthan, Ajmer, Through
Its Secretary.
4. Director, Secondary Education, Bikaner.
----Respondents
For Appellant(s) : Mr. Hemant Shrimali with
Mr. Harish Jangid
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Manish Vyas, AAG
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANGEET LODHA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAMESHWAR VYAS
Judgment
/03/2021
BY THE COURT: (PER HON'BLE VYAS, J.)
This intra court appeal has been preferred by the appellant against the order dated 20.11.2019 passed by learned Single Judge in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 17052/2019, whereby, the writ petition seeking direction against the respondents to include her (Downloaded on 04/03/2021 at 11:05:32 PM) (2 of 7) [SAW-96/2020] name in the list of Indira Priyadarshini Award for Class 10 th in 'minority' category of District Chittorgarh has been dismissed in limine.
Brief facts of the case are that petitioner - Princi Jain, who filed the writ petition through her natural guardian, was a regular student of Class 10th in Durga Central Academy Senior Secondary School, Dungla, Chittorgarh. For appearing in the Secondary Examination, 2019 online application form, duly verified by Principal, Durga Central Academy Senior Secondary School, Dungla, Chittorgarh (Annexure-4), was submitted by the petitioner to the Board of Secondary Education Rajasthan. Though petitioner belongs to minority community as she is Jain by caste, yet in the online application form, her caste was shown as 'General'; in the said examination petitioner secured 96.17% marks, mark-sheet whereof, is marked as Annexure-5.
As per the Circular dated 05.08.2019 (Annexure-6) issued by the Government of Rajasthan, Education (Group-I) Department, a girl student, who gets first rank in Class 10th in the District, will be given Rs.75,000/- as cash reward alongwith a certificate; the award is called Indira Priyadarshini Award; the said award is given for the categories such as General, SC/ST, minority etc. In the Circular it is also mentioned that if more than one girl student obtain equal marks, then each girl student is entitled for reward and certificate.
After issuance of list of candidates eligible for Indira Priyadarshini Award, petitioner came to know that her name was not included in the list; thereafter petitioner made a representation dated 17.09.2019 (Annexure-9) to the District Education Officer, Secondary Education, District Chittorgarh, which (Downloaded on 04/03/2021 at 11:05:32 PM) (3 of 7) [SAW-96/2020] was forwarded to the Secretary, Board of Secondary Education, Ajmer with positive report. The Principal, Durga Central Academy Senior Secondary School, Dungla, Chittorgarh also recommended the case of the petitioner to the Board of Secondary Education.
The prayer of the petitioner made in the representation was declined by the Secretary, Board of Secondary Education on the ground that as per the advertisement dated 19.11.2018, which was published in the newspaper on 20.11.2018, candidates were provided opportunity to amend the category upto 30.11.2018 and thereafter the amendment in the caste category was not permissible.
The petitioner served a notice for demand of justice on the respondents through her counsel, but her prayer was not acceded to. Hence, the petitioner filed a writ petition, which was dismissed in limine by the learned Single Judge on the ground that petitioner having not filled her caste/category, the respondent Board was justified in not awarding the Indira Priyadarshini Award to her. Learned Single Judge further observed that the aforesaid error goes to the very root of the criteria prescribed for distributing the award. The Court observed that name of other candidate has been selected or declared for the award, who is not before the Court.
Aggrieved by the above impugned order this intra court appeal has been filed by the appellant.
During pendency of the appeal, the appellant filed an application for taking additional documents on record, which was allowed by this Court vide order dated 4.2.20 and the additional documents produced were taken on record.
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(4 of 7) [SAW-96/2020] Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that while taking admission in Durga Central Academy Senior Secondary School she filled up application form and described her category as 'minority'. It is submitted that for secondary examination online application form was filled in by the School authority, in which, her category was wrongly shown as 'General', whereas, the appellant being Jain by caste falls within 'minority' category. Learned counsel submitted that the School authorities were under an obligation to verify the particulars given in the form from the record available with the School. The mistake is bona fide and should not come in the way of the petitioner's entitlement to get the award, for which, she qualifies otherwise. Drawing the attention of the Court to the mark-sheet of Secondary Education, learned counsel submitted that the corrections regarding the name of the parents, caste etc. is permissible within five years from the date of declaration of the result and therefore, the respondents have erred in not permitting the petitioner to rectify the error crept in.
Learned counsel for the appellant during the course of arguments has also drawn attention of this Court towards admission form submitted to the School, in which, appellant mentioned her category as 'minority'. It is also brought to the notice that in Class 8th also appellant got first rank in the minority category and has been awarded 'Padmakshi Puraskar' by the Balika Shiksha Foundation Rajasthan, Jaipur on 22.01.2018 (Annexure-3).
On the other hand, learned Additional Advocate General supported the order impugned passed by the learned Single Judge. It is submitted that the appellant herself is liable for the mistake committed while filling up the online examination form. It (Downloaded on 04/03/2021 at 11:05:32 PM) (5 of 7) [SAW-96/2020] is submitted that the appellant has failed to amend the category within the time prescribed in the newspaper published on 20.11.2019 and therefore, after stipulated time when the award is already issued to the eligible candidate on the basis of the category specified, the question of permitting the petitioner to amend the category does not arise. Learned AAG submitted that the correction of name of the parents, caste etc. in the mark-sheet cannot in any manner relate the correction which was required to be made for the purpose of the award within the stipulated time in terms of the advertisement issued. Learned AAG submitted that apart from the fact that the petitioner has mentioned her category in the application form for the Secondary Examination as 'General' even in the transfer certificate issued by Swami Vivekanand Govt. Model School, Dungla, the category of the petitioner is mentioned as 'General'. Learned AAG submitted that the award in the minority category has already been given to the eligible candidate, who is not before this Court and therefore, even otherwise, no relief as prayed for can be granted to the petitioner.
We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record.
It is not in dispute that the petitioner had submitted the application form on-line for Secondary Examination disclosing her category as 'General'. It is also not in dispute that in the circular dated 5.8.19 issued by the Government of Rajasthan, regulating 'Indira Priyadarshini Award', it was specifically mentioned that the caste/category as mentioned by the candidate in the application form shall be final. The petitioner had an opportunity to rectify the error within the stipulated time as mentioned in the advertisement but admittedly, she did not avail the same and it is only after the (Downloaded on 04/03/2021 at 11:05:32 PM) (6 of 7) [SAW-96/2020] declaration of the award that petitioner made a grievance. The award was to be given to the candidates on securing the highest marks in the category applied for and thus, the petitioner having failed to apply in the 'minority' category, the action of the respondents in rejecting the representation made by the petitioner belatedly after finalisation of the award, cannot be faulted with.
It is true that the examination form requires verification by the School authorities and therefore, the School authorities were also required to verify the particulars from the record of the student. But on that account the mistake which was permissible to be rectified within the stipulated time i.e. upto 30.11.18, cannot be permitted to be rectified at this stage so as to adversely affect the right of the candidate who has already been given award as per the category applied for, moreso when she is not before this Court.
For the aforementioned reasons, we are in agreement with the view taken by the learned Single Judge of this Court and the order impugned does not warrant any interference by us in intra court appeal jurisdiction.
But the fact remains that the petitioner had secured the first rank in minority category even in Class 8th and has been awarded 'Padmakshi Puruskar' by Balika Shiksha Foundation Rajasthan, Jaipur on 22.1.18. Though, the petitioner has committed an error in not rectifying her category within the stipulated time but the error crept in cannot be solely attributed to the petitioner. Undoubtedly, the purpose of award is to encourage the deserving girl child. Thus, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, it is expected of the respondents to consider the grievance of the (Downloaded on 04/03/2021 at 11:05:32 PM) (7 of 7) [SAW-96/2020] petitioner sympathetically, at least, for award of the certificate of the first rank in 'minority' category, if not the cash award.
In the result, the appeal is dismissed with the observations as above.
(RAMESHWAR VYAS),J (SANGEET LODHA),J
AK Chouhan/-
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